


Lab Cat

by orphan_account



Series: Dennis a Menace [1]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Allergies, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-17
Updated: 2015-10-17
Packaged: 2018-04-26 20:25:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5019238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stanley wasn't a big fan of pets.  He could deal with Waddles.  He could deal with Gompers.</p><p>But he couldn't deal with Dennis.</p><p>Dennis was a menace, and if his brother wasn't so attached to the furball, it would have already been out the door like he wanted.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lab Cat

He knew he should have put his foot down, should have fought it more than he did.  Stanley didn’t want that thing anywhere near him.  Hell, he didn’t even want it in the house.  The thing was a terror in a pint sized package, and only managed to make Stanford sick whether or not it stayed in the basement. He had been tempted to just crack a window, kick it out the front door, and pretend it ran off.  Things were never quite easy, though.

“Grunkle Stan, we got a cat?”  

Stanley paused, cat tucked under his arm, hand on the open door’s handle. Taking one look at Mabel, he realized just how deep he got himself into.  His great-niece practically vibrated with excitement, eyes wide, smile bright.  He looked back down at the fur ball at his side. It just slumped lazily against his arm with not a care in the world, almost as though it knew  _exactly_ what was going to happen.

He knew it.

The cocky cat knew it.

“Yeah.  Found it diggin’ around in the trash. Figured I’d bring it inside.”  Stanley said with a light shrug.  Mabel gave a high squeal before diving in and scoping the cat out from under his arm.  

“D’aw, he’s so cute! And fluffy!”  She nuzzled her cheek against the cat’s head, pulling it close to her sweater.  He could hear the bugger all ready purring up a storm.  He took one last look at the two before pulling the door closed, accepting his fate of fur balls and dead rats.

His brother was a dead man.

Stanley tore himself from his thoughts as a little arm wrapped itself around his waist.  

“Thanks, Grunkle Stan! I’m going to take real good care of this lil guy.” 

He blinked down at Mabel, her cheek now pressed against his side in a one armed hug, the other one still around that cat.  Stanley Pines wasn’t a heartless man.  Losing Waddles once was enough.  He couldn’t just turn around and take this new pet away from her.  So he gently patted Mabel on the back.

“I know you will.  Why don’t you go ahead and feed him?“  He hesitated before giving the new addition a pat on the head as well.  The lil fuzzball immediately licked his coat.

“He likes you!” Mabel giggled before pulling away.  “I’ll go ahead and feed him. Thanks again!”

Once she ducked around the corner, Stanley frowned down at his coat with a critical eye.  Bits of fur all ready decorated his coat.  Now with the addition of cat spit.  He started unbuttoning it with a huff and made his way to the gift shop.

Stan made a beeline for the vending machine, punching in the code without a second thought, only pausing to toss his coat on the counter.  The door flew open, he stepped inside, and rode the elevator to the very bottom.

For once, the first thing he heard wasn’t the mad scribbling of a pen or the clanking of tools.  Instead, he heard a loud sneeze.  

Then another. 

Then another.

“I told you that thing was a bad idea, but no.  Why listen to me?  It ain’t like I’m trying to  _help_ you or anything.”

Stanford scowled from his desk, numerous tissues and chewed up pens strewed about it.

“I am perfectly fine.  It’s just allergies.”  He said simply, as if he were talking about a small scratch.

Stanley frowned with a huff of a sigh, more exasperated than anything.  “Ford.  That’s because you’re allergic to cats.  You brought home a cat.”

He strode up to the desk, staring down at Stanford.  He sat hunched over a messy pile of papers, a few with blots of ink.  One look at a couple of the pens solved the mystery.

“Y’know, for someone with so much brains, you really lack common sense.”

Stanford didn’t bother looking up at Stanley, instead choosing to chew on the end of his pen some more before sneezing.  He frowned and tossed it to the side along with the others.

“I’ll get over it.  If I take medication and spend some time with him, I’ll be perfectly fine.”  

The two lapsed into silence for a few moments.

“Sweet Moses, you’re serious about this.”

Stanford wheeled his chair about to face Stanley with a thin frown.  “Really? Is it that hard to believe I want to kee-” He cut himself off with another sneeze, quickly ducking his face into the crook of his elbow.

“Urgh.” Stanley peered about before spotting the tissue box.  He plucked one out and handed off to his brother.  Stanford looked up from his coat with a sniffle.  Frowning again, he took the tissue and wheeled his chair to face the desk once more, wiping his nose.

“I’m still keeping him.” He muttered, tossing the used tissue to the side with the rest of the crowing pile.

Stanley crossed his arms over his chest, leaning back with a bark of laughter.  “Couldn’t get rid of it even if you wanted to.” 

He jerked a thumb toward the elevator shaft. “Mabel all ready found it.  She’s probably feeding it tuna outta the can right now.”

Stanley watched as his brother fidgeted with one of the few working pens he had left.  “Well… Did she like him?”  He asked casually, still not bothering to look up at Stan.

Cracking a grin, Stanley chuckled.  “What do you think?”

Stanford gave a small smile.  “Well, I suppose that clears everything up, hm?”

“Seriously, Ford.  Why a cat?  I hate ‘em, you’re spraying snot every where.” He jabbed a finger at the mess of broken pens.

“I know you broke those from sneezing.”

Stanford heaved a sigh and carelessly tossed the one he was holding into the pile.  “I figured a cat would be better than a dog.  You don’t have to let them go outside, picking up after them is worlds easier, they don’t eat as mu-”  He sneezed again and reached for a tissue from the pile only to be handed a new.  He accepted it with a nod of thanks.

“Okay. Can understand that ‘cause I know I’m not taking care of anything you bring home.  Sci-fi or otherwise.  But that still doesn’t tell me why you were bringing home something you didn’t plan to dissect.”  Stanley paused for a moment and shot his brother a hard stare.

Stanford peered over before giving a scoff, tossing yet another tissue to the sad, sad mess of a work space.  “A cat?  You honestly think I would dissect a  _cat_?”

Stanley held up his hands, brows somewhat raised, “Woah!  No.  That’s not what I’m getting at here.”

His brother stared at him for a beat before peering away, his face turning redder than he all ready had from all the sneezing.  “Well, I just thought it might be nice to maybe have a… more conventional pet around.”

They lapsed into another brief silence, Stanford still not looking up from his desk.  When he felt a hand rest against his shoulder, he jumped slightly before peering up at Stanley, half expecting some sort of joke.

Instead, Stan gave a small, noncommittal shrug.  “Maybe a cat wasn’t the best idea.  If you want something furry, maybe get a rat of something.” He said with a wave of his other hand.

“Small, easy enough to take care of.”  He gave a teasing smile.  “Just don’t start splicin’ them down here. Kinda defeats the purpose”

Stanford smiled back and reached up, patting Stanley’s hand.  “I might actually do that.  Thanks.”

“…Please tell me that’s not the hand you’ve been sneezing into.


End file.
